


Does It Ever Drive You Crazy?

by tgposey



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 05:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9642755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tgposey/pseuds/tgposey
Summary: Stiles has been happily married to the woman of his dreams since he was 21, or at least so he thought until three years later he came home and found her in bed with another man. Then came the divorce, the new bachelor pad and the un-desire to ever believe in love again. Until, he meets a redhead woman at the bar that might just change his mind and his life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was so much fun to write and really made me see Stydia in such a different direction than usual. Both of their characters went in different directions than I'm used to writing them as and it was a bit of a challenge but so amazing to see them come to life in this fic and definitely pushed different boundaries for me as a writer. This went from such a small idea to me to, hopefully, blossoming into something you all will love just as much as I do! 
> 
> I want to thank riverdalecorefour for the incredible artwork which you can find [ here ](http://riverdalecorefour.tumblr.com/private/156883561699/tumblr_oky41mTfJJ1rurt5d) and for putting up with my horrible schedule and still being so supportive!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy reading this here fic and can all be relieved now with canon!stydia because FINALLY. Thank you so much!!

People always told him to not get married so young, ‘you’ll regret it’ and ‘marriage at such a young age always leads to divorce’ and ‘that’s so stupid’ was all they would say to him time and time again. But Stiles couldn’t help but brush them off as best as he could. Sure, it hurt to listen to hear that every single day but Stiles didn’t care. Angela was the only person he could see in his life, the only girl that he could spend the rest of his life with. He only wanted to tell his secrets to her, or see her smile everyday. This bright and vibrant young woman who knocked the wind out of him every time she batted an eyelash, and that’s all he needed. That’s why he asked her to be his bride, they might have been right out of college and not even started a day in the real world – but Stiles wanted her by his side every step of the way. Of course there were people like his father, who he had a screaming match with what felt like almost every night just because his father couldn’t see how much he cared about this woman – but, the truth was he didn’t want his son to get his hopes up, or get his heartbroken without experiencing what else was out there at the time. They were young just barely twenty-two and “ready” to start the rest of his life. And then there was his best friend, Scott, while the other boy was not as outspoken as Stiles’ dad, there were times were he voiced his concerns but not to argue with the boy, just to make sure he understood what could happen. And again he didn’t listen.

He got a job right out of school, his original plan was to do something more exciting with his life or even more creative but he had bills, student loans and now a wedding to pay for that he needed to make a lot of money fast. So, he took a backend office job that made him almost fall asleep on his keyboard everyday, but it put food on the table every night and for the short while that the two would have to go through it, it was worth it. Everyday was one day closer to his wedding and one day closer to finally getting out of this job and starting something he could actually fully love. But that was the problem with life, sometimes you had to choose between what you actually love and what was practical, and at that moment he had to choose being practical for the person he loved most.

They got through it, the wedding came and went on a sunny day in June. The ocean breeze and beautiful cloudless skies were the reason his heart kept beating that day because how beautiful she looked could have made him drop dead. They were soon Mr. and Mrs. Stilinski, something that both of them dreamed of. While he wished his mother could have been there that night, there was nothing short of happiness and love that filled his mind at the thought that Angela was his, he got the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the world, there was no denying that. She had blonde hair that seemed to go on for days, eyes as blue as the sea and it seemed that everyone wanted her – because, well…they did.

He would be the first to tell you that it was hard to keep his hands off of her when they went out because all the eyes in the room went to her immediately, Stiles wasn’t stupid. He knew that the first thought when people saw her was ‘holy shit, this woman is gorgeous’, and then when they saw that her hands were intertwined with his they asked ‘are you really with this guy?’ Yes. Yes, she was. But, it did leave to some problems on his end as Angela was very aware of who she was and who she was pleasing that wasn’t just her husband. He developed jealousy issues and soon it was hard for him to even cope with the idea that the woman could be with anyone that she wanted but picked him. The two were together since they were in high school and barely dated anyone outside of each other.

And that was probably when everything started to change.

You don’t really know the moment you start falling out of love with a person, maybe it’s one day when you’re grabbing a mug from your cabinet and you just feel the pang of emptiness in your chest. Or maybe it’s when you’re looking into their eyes and suddenly you don’t see that gleam anymore and you wonder when it stopped sparkling so much – or if it ever did to begin with. Your multicolor world suddenly starts slowing down and you can’t feel yourself breathing anymore; not because they take your breath away, but because you feel so suffocated by their presence in your life, you care about them but you just don’t love them anymore. Not the way you thought.

In the story of Angela and Stiles, it only seemed that it started happening to one of them. Stiles would come home searching for his wife’s heart to love and help beat again, but she was distant – cold even. And suddenly after only a year of marriage it seemed that the relationship that they were in was never really based on love, but just being comfortable with each other. But, the two never spoke about it, they continued to grow closer and pretend to be in love because if it was one thing that the couple hated it was proving people right. How could they live up to the expectations that everyone believed that they would fail as a couple? They couldn’t, not when they told so many people they were wrong, although it clogged Stiles’ mind every night that maybe they weren’t.

It was a late night at the office, that he still hadn’t quit even though he swore he was going to after the wedding was said and done, and he knew that Ang would be asleep. She didn’t work most days and usually spent the time caring for the house or helping her mother with her nieces and nephews so the boy was surprised when he walked in to see the lights in the house still on. And maybe that should have been the first clue, or maybe when he saw shoes on the floor that he thought ‘are those mine?’ that maybe he should have ran upstairs, but Stiles Stilinski saw the good in everyone and couldn’t even believe that his wife would cheat on him. Not even when he opened the door to their bedroom and saw another man lying naked next to her did he even believe it.

And now as he moves into his best friend’s apartment with the clothes on his back, change in his pocket and divorce papers sitting on top of some random box, does he still not believe that his would could do something to him like that. Sure, he was angry – who wouldn’t be when he walked in on his wife sleeping with another guy while their marriage was already falling apart. There was no coming back from it though, and now it was time for Stiles to move on and move forward as best as he could. He already told himself he would never love again, but he couldn’t think about the girl anymore she was his future but now all he could see Angela as was a piece of his past.

“Come on, dude.” Scott says, snapping Stiles out of his trance as he stares at the divorce papers. Okay, maybe he wasn’t sure if he wanted to make her apart of his past yet. “She cheated on you, she decided that instead of telling you that it wasn’t going to work out she completely disregarded your feelings and fucked you over.”

“I know.” Stiles replies softly, not sure if he can really say anything else.

“And it’s been a month since you decided to file for a divorce. You’re twenty-three, man. You’re young, you both were.”

“I know.”

“Stiles, stop.” Scotts quick to grab the papers from the box and put them behind his back which causes his friend to look up at him, a frown on his face. “We’re going out tonight, no if’s and’s or but’s.”

“How about…no.” Stiles snaps, although it’s snarkier than he wants it to be. Scott’s not offended, he knows that his best friend is deeply hurt but if there was one thing that he knew could make him feel better it was a nice beer and some chill music. It always seemed to help when they were in high school.

“I only accept ‘yes’ and ‘hell yes’.” Scott teases before hiding the papers somewhere and coming back to grab the boy’s shoulder, shaking him slightly. “You’ll have a great time, the guys will all be there and I’ll even buy your rounds.”

“Fine,” he agrees although a sigh is in order after his words. “But, I’m only going for an hour. I have work in the morning.”

“You still work at that shitty job? I thought you were going to quit?”

“Divorce lawyers aren’t cheap.”

“Don’t use life as an excuse to be unhappy, Stiles, use your happiness as an excuse to enjoy life.” Scott reminds him before grabbing his apartment keys and nodding towards the door, the other boy following as they leave.

-

“Hey, hey!” Scott calls as he walks into the bar, the two of them making their way over to a booth where their friends were sat at. Isaac had his usual smug face on as he took a sip of his beer, waving over to the two, while Liam shook his head, moving over so that his friends could slide in.

“Did you two really have to take so long?” Liam asked as he took a sip of his beer, the boy barely legal compared to the other three that sat at the table with him. “If I have to hear about Isaac and Derek’s wild trip to Vegas one more time I might unfriend all of you.”

“Ever think that’s the point of me telling the story?” Isaac joked, a wink following his words.

“Sorry, Mr. Grumpy over here decided he didn’t want to come and I had to force him out last minute.” Scott says nodding over to Stiles, who in return just rolled his eyes at the other. “Speaking of Derek, where is he?”

“Not coming,” Isaac responded with a shrug. “Said something about fucking up with his girl and needing to go and make it right. I don’t know, probably had to do with the fact that he got tagged in all these pictures with some girls in bikinis in Vegas.”

“Such class acts you guys are.” Stiles mumbles, shaking his head at the thought. He would have never done something like that to Angela if they were dating or married, she was the only girl that he had eyes for and the idea of even looking at another woman while they were together was just so wrong to him.

Isaac’s mouth opened to respond but Stiles had already stood up, not wanting to hear a stupid lecture about how ‘not all men are in committed relationships’ or ‘it was just a picture, they didn’t cheat or anything; looking at a beautiful woman isn’t cheating’, either way Stiles didn’t want to hear it. Instead he just got up and made his way over to the bar, sitting down on the rough cushion of the bar stool as he waited for a bartender to make their way over to him.

Stiles had always been a very curious person and when he wasn’t asking a million and one questions, his eyes were scanning over the crowd and trying to take in all the sights. It was just something he did, people tend to think that they were sly and could get away with anything if no one was paying attention – but then there was Stiles who noticed everything. And by everything he meant even the beautiful girl that was sitting two bar stools down from him, who seemed to be alone and still had a smile on her face as she talked to one of the bartenders. Her red hair seemed to go on forever and a day and suddenly he realized he had never seen someone with hair as gorgeous as hers, even Angela’s blonde locks paled in comparison to this stranger who sat so close to him.

From the side she looked like someone interesting, the way she spoke to the bartender for what felt like forever made Stiles wonder if he could be on the opposite of those conversations one day, wondering what exactly she was saying. He wants to talk to her, the first time in a long time where another woman – a total stranger, actually – caught his interest.

“Can I help you?” A deep voice asks, causing Stiles to turn his attention away to look over at the bartender, a raised eyebrow on his face.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. Can I get two rum and cokes?” He says a small smile on his face as the bartender nods his head and walks away to get started on his drink order. Stiles is quick to move his attention back to the girl, rattling his brain for something to think of to say to her. He wants to talk to her, hell he needs to talk to her but for some reason his brain and his mouth aren’t working together, not when he needs them to be – he could go on and on for days about nothing, but the moment he wants this to happen, its not happening. It seems maybe that she can hear his thoughts out loud because she turns to look at him, a soft smile appears on her features as they lock eyes. There’s something about her that pulls him in, or at least wants to pull him in, but a split second their eye contact is lost. It’s so fast but it feels like an eternity for the girl to look down at the hand that is resting on the bar, her eyes moving to the gold plated ring that is around his finger. She looks back up at him again, the soft smile on her face almost completely gone before she’s turning back around to look away from him.

If he was honest he forgot about the ring in that moment, he even forgot about Angela and the time they shared together – but he obviously didn’t forget when he was leaving Scott’s, knowing very well that keeping the ring on was going to shift his chances of talking to a woman. Stiles didn’t want to find love, he had it before and it broke him in pieces, why would he ever want to do that again?

He sighs as the bartender puts down the drinks, giving him some cash before grabbing both glasses and heading back over to the table, his head turning back one last time to look at the stranger who seemed to have moved on to a different conversation, probably someone with less baggage – and definitely not a wedding ring on.

“What took you so long?” Scott asked as Stiles slid back into the booth, putting down the drink in front of his friend.

“Jesus, does everyone have anything better to do tonight that you guys are rushing me so much?” Stiles joked before taking a sip of his drink. “I was just taking a moment for myself, haven’t really been to a bar as a single man.”

“Ooh, checking out some girls?” Isaac asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“No,” Stiles is quick to shut down the remark. “Just checking out the bar scene in general, seeing how single men actually are supposed to act. Trying to get my own right of passage as a single man in line.”

“Whatever you say, man. Just know you’re eventually going to have to take that hunk of metal off your finger if you want to get a girl.” Liam responds, pointing to the ring on his finger.

“I told you to take that off before we came inside.” Scott says with a huff. “Why do you even want that on your finger?”

“Because I’m not ready, is that such a bad thing? He responds with a slight bit of bitterness in his voice. “We’ve been separated for a month and we’ve been together since high school – not my fault you guys haven’t been in a relationship long enough to know what it feels like.”

“She cheated on you.” Isaac says blatantly which causes Scott to whisper his name, wanting him to stop. “No, I’m sorry I’m done babying him.” He looks over at Stiles and his face was stern, knowing he was being serious. “You’re my friend and whether you like it or not Angela moved on. She moved on while you two were together, stop worrying about if she’s going to see you flirting with another girl or if you’re allowed to. It’s time to stop doing what’s best for the marriage and start doing what’s best for Stiles Stilinski.”

He hated that Isaac was right, he hated it, but he would never let the boy know that he was because his pride was too big to let that happen. But, after his words his eyes moved back to the mysterious woman at the bar and he realizes that it’s people like her that Stiles now is able to get to know, who he is allowed to bring into his life. But with how badly that Angela messed him up, will he ever be able to?

“Let it go,” Scott says to Isaac, shaking his head at him. “We’re done talking about this for the night.” Neither Stiles nor Isaac answer, both just taking a big sip of their drink as they hope the conversation would reset itself.

And it does, the four boys making their way from Stiles’ love life to the football game that was on the night before, and they kind of all forget about the interaction. Although forget is a loose term considering Stiles has what was said in the back of his mind despite the huge smile on his face.

She’s moved on. 

God did he hate hearing that.

The night ended how it usually did, with Stiles and Scott dragging Isaac and Liam into a cab and wishing them well as they shut the door and let the small yellow car drive up the street.

-

“You’re not still thinking about what Isaac said are you?” It was the next morning and Stiles was slumped over a plate of eggs, not because he was hungover but because he was sad. Of course he was thinking about it still, he couldn’t stop thinking about it and it even caused him to almost call Angela in the middle of the night to start begging her to come back to him. It was the most pathetic thing that Stiles had ever thought of doing but he loved her...fuck, did he love her. “Listen.” Scott snaps him out of his trance, his brown hues moving to look up at his friends. “Don’t harp on it. Move at your own pace, but maybe you should take the day off of work? Explore the city by yourself? Get some much needed Stiles-time?”

Stiles doesn’t argue, he picks up his phone and calls his mundane job and speaks to his monotone boss and calls out. Deep down he knows that he could just not show up for three weeks straight and they would never notice. That was the thing about his life, no one seemed to spare his feelings and continued on with what they were doing which is probably why he always just felt like he was stuck to the wall the whole of his life. This wasn’t any different.

Scott went to work and Stiles made his way back to the couch where he spent most of his time anyway, just wrapped up in a blanket watching sad movies or sleeping every time he feels his body ache with heart break (which is most of the time). Sadly, the Monday blues were making it even worse for the boy.

What feels like days pass by and Stiles decides to get up from the couch, wanting to grab a bite to eat from the fridge he stops when he sees a green post-it note on the handle.

GO OUT. DO NOT SIT AT HOME ALL DAY. – SCOTT.

Scott would never know if Stiles went out or not, which was the beauty of having a friend like him, he just trusted the boy right off the bat…which was also the curse of having a friend like Scott. Stiles knew he would never be able to actually lie to his friend or fake doing something, Scott was too good of a person.

Sighing, Stiles finds himself rummaging through his boxes for some clean clothes that weren’t sweatpants or gross t-shirts and made himself look decent before grabbing the spare keys that Scott left for him and headed out into the city.

Moving to Sacramento was a big deal for Stiles, mostly because it was the first time he moved out of Beacon Hills, especially away from his dad. The first place they got it was Angela, Stiles and Isaac who ended up living together, Scott still at home trying to help his mom pay her bills. But, once Stiles got married and finished school they had ended up moving in a townhouse not too far out of the city. But, it was safe to say that Stiles never got to enjoy the city as a single man – but even less than a single man, as just the curious person that he was. It wasn’t that Angela took that away from him, but he just focused all of his attention on her rather than on what was going on around him.

His hands were deep in his pockets as he walked out of the apartment building and onto the streets. Everything seemed to be so different than he remembered, the sunlight shined down on the people that walked near him, he doesn’t ever recall seeing so many happy faces. The city is bustling and for the first time ever, Stiles was apart of it. He wasn’t in the back of it all anymore, he was apart of it.

This is where his mind wanders, where he finds himself so transparent and part of everything that it causes his chest to tighten. Mostly because he had never felt like he had belonged this much before, the city streets called out to him and so did –.

Oof.

That’s the noise that comes out of him as he feels his head collide with something hard and…metal? He buckles over and his hand moves to his head all while hearing a voice go. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Jesus, fuck. I’m so sorry. Fuck. Are you going to sue me? Please don’t sue me. Fuck.”

He tries to make sense of it all, the stranger’s voice talking a mile a minute sure doesn’t help his head that is spinning now. Slowly he bends back up, his hand still rubbing his forehead but he’s now looking at the person in front of him, her familiar features scream at Stiles and it causes him to freeze up even more than he was before. Her red hair was so staple to remembering who she was but in the sunlight he could see her soft green eyes that tinted of golden hues in them, which captivated him the second they connected. And it happened again, his brain and his mouth just couldn’t seem to sync up.

“Is that a yes?” She asks again, obviously trying to ignore the fact that Stiles was blatantly staring at her.

“Uh, no. I’m fine, it was just my head.” The words come out with a small laugh at the end of them. He can tell that her eyes are moving from his to the hand that rested on his head, once again going to the shiny piece of jewelry that found itself around the boy’s finger. Her face didn’t drop but there was a look of recognition in her features that told him that she remembered him just as much as she remembered her.

“I’m glad you’re okay. I didn’t mean for that to happen, I was just in a rush and I just, –.” Her words fall and she’s back to looking into his eyes. “I’m sorry, again.”

“Hey, it’s no problem. It happens.” He wants to say more, but even if he did what would he say? ‘This ring on my finger symbolizes my ex-wife fucking a random guy and I can’t seem to move on but for some reason you piqued my interest?’ That sounds like a douchebag thing to say. So the two end up telling each other to have a nice night and before he knows it they’re walking their separate ways.

She stays on his mind for the rest of the time he’s out, though. Her voice is softer than he expected from seeing her the other day at the bar. And her eyes. God, Stiles knew if he could stare into them all day he would, they were just breathtaking.

It’s late when he rolls back into Scott’s place, a smile on his face as he opens the door, seeing his friend eating at the countertop.

“Whooaaaaaa! Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?” Scott laughs after he wipes his mouth with a napkin. He stops for a moment, lowering his eyebrows and narrowing his eyes at his friend. “Wait, you didn’t go see Angela did you?”

“No, no.” Stiles dismisses the idea before walking to the fridge and grabbing a water bottle. “I just had a good day. You know? Like, I had an actual good day. I feel like this hasn’t happened to me in years. And I’m only twenty-three. Every one of these days should be a good day.” He laughs before shaking his head. “Anyway, work was good?”

“Boring, but it’s work I don’t know what else to expect. Let’s get off the subject of me and talk about you. This is incredible news, Stiles.”

“I’ve just been thinking about it, I have Angela out of my life and I was happy to get away from a cheater, but I still had to go to the worst job in the world.” He says out loud, thinking back on the day that he had. “So after I had some lunch, I went into my job, walked right up to my boss and I quit.”

Scott almost chokes on the food after hearing what the boy says, he expected the boy to have another job lined up before he was walking around and quitting. “You did what?”

“I quit, Scott. And it was the best feeling in the entire world. I don’t remember the last time I felt so sure about myself, or anything really. I mean now I know I have to find something else to do but now it won’t have to be the most boring job in the entire world just to provide for someone who didn’t even care. I can find a job that I actually want, that I am excited about going to every single day. It’s going to be a whole different experience for me now. I can do what I actually want in life.”

Scott is speechless for a moment but then softens up, knowing that there was no way to change the boy’s mind at this point. It was done already.

“Good for you, man. Here’s to the better.” He picks up his glass of water and tilts it towards the boy to “cheers” his future endeavors before he takes a sip. “And if things don’t work out the first time you find something there’s a whole world of opportunities out there.”

-

Scott’s advice stayed in his mind as he went out and researched what he wanted to do, not really having a plan to begin with when he decided to just quit his job. Maybe not the smartest idea on his part. His first few days of looking around consisted of him sitting in the local Starbucks and googling things such as “what to do when you don’t know what to do?” and “plan my life, google” and of course, “why did I do this I have no future plan”. It was frustrating to not have a plan, that’s what his life usually consisted of but now it was just puzzle pieces that didn’t create one cohesive picture but he still had to put it together.

“How’s your head?” Is what he hears one day as he’s staring blankly at the screen in front of him. His eyes travel to the strange woman who seems to be everywhere recently, and this wasn’t their first encounter since the door incident. He had seen her walking home from the grocery store, despite being occupied talking on the phone she still managed to make eye contact and smile. Then again when Stiles was at the gym she was two machines down from him and her face got all red when he looked her way. And as more days went on, the more he realized she had always been in his routine but he was just so focused on trying to be happy with someone made him feel like he wasn’t good enough that he didn’t manage to notice this girl. There were times where they said hello or waved quickly, but it was never more than that. But she broke that unspoken connection and decided to speak to him.

“You know, that could go two different ways?” I did not just say that, was what running through his head the second the words slipped out of his mouth. Make yourself look like an idiot? Check. Have this beautiful girl stand in front of you look at you with disgust? Check. Crawl in a hole and scream. In progress.

“Disgusting,” she laughs before making herself comfortable and sitting down at the seat across from him. “But, funny. I’m assuming that you’re still very injured and that’s why you’re saying things like that.”

“Yes,” he sighs, knowing it was just nerves but if she put a possible excuse for his weird actions than might as well just go along with it. “I’m doing alright. You have quite the arm to be swinging doors open like that, though.” She laughs again, which is a sound he’s not accustomed to yet but he doesn’t want to stop hearing it. “So, strange woman that stalks me and hits me with doors. What’s your name?”

“First off, I don’t stalk you. You stalk me. Second off, it was one time.” She takes a sip of her coffee before putting it down on the table again. “Lydia.”

“Lydia.” The name rolls right off his tongue and a smile tugs at his features, it wasn’t the name that he was expecting – but then again she was a total stranger so he shouldn’t have expected much. The name is beautiful, simple but beautiful, and maybe it was because of his bias towards the girl (despite barely knowing her). “You can call me Stiles.”

“Stiles? Is that a nickname?”

“You can say that.”

“Well then why can’t you tell me your real name?”

“Fine.” He chuckles, extending his hand out towards her. “Mieczysław Stilinski, at your service.” She laughs, maybe she doesn’t mean to but she does. It was one of the reason Stiles never went by the name because a) he couldn’t pronounce it as a child, b) no one else besides his parents could pronounce it and c) people usually made fun of him for it. He swallowed the idea that she was making fun of him maliciously because that probably wasn’t the case, but it was still the first thing to pop into his head.

“I’m sorry,” she says in between giggles. “I’m not laughing at your name; I’m laughing at how you said it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what they all say,” his hand drops back on the table but a smirk creeps onto his features as he speaks. “Now do you know why I go by Stiles?”

“Yes and no.” She says as she clams down from her laughing fit, sitting back in her chair as looks at him. “Yes because it’s the norm for you to just make it easier on society to pronounce it so you don’t have to go through the struggle of correcting people every single day. No, because that’s your name.”

“I just prefer Stiles.” She’s right for the most part, and it’s soon that he realizes that she’s smart, and seems to thinks deeper than most people. It was just a name but it meant more to her than just that, despite the two having minimal meeting, knowing very little about each other and well to people on the outside looking in being nothing but total strangers.

“Stiles it is.” Lydia smiles before taking a sip of her drink, the two fall silent which causes him to shift slightly in his chair. Mostly from his lack of experience with woman over the past – six…. seven years? The only reason Angela dated him was because she was in his friend group and he was there for her after a break up. He didn’t try to advance on her, he wasn’t that guy, but she liked the idea of having someone who was there for her when she needed him. And as he sat there in that coffee shop with that beautiful red head it hits him that he was nothing more than a safety net for Angela. He was there because she was uncomfortable with herself, she was dumped and felt not good enough and it took all these years for her to realize that she was “better” than him.

“Fuck.” The word comes out and it causes her to raise an eyebrow, probably a weird situation since he’s sitting there staring at her. But, he just came to a realization, one that Isaac had pushed on him earlier in the month to try to warn him. “Sorry…I…” he takes a moment to blink, snapping himself out of his trance before leaning in towards her, his back picking itself up from being against the uncomfortable chair as he does so. “Would you like to go out sometime?”

If someone told him a month ago that he would be sitting here asking this girl out he would have laughed in their face. Stiles, even so much as 30 days before this interaction, was so sure that he could win back his cheating wife because he loved her so much and love never dies. A lot changes in a month.

“Are you kidding me?” Not the answer he was looking for.

“What?”

“You have a ring on your finger and you’re asking me out on a date?” Her eyebrows raise as she looks at him, waiting for a response. His hues move down to his left hand and where a gold plated ring usually sat was nothing. Sure, Stiles could still see the outline of it from the slight color difference in his skin, but there was nothing there. It takes her a moment but Lydia herself moves her green eyes to look down where his eyes were, eyebrow raising as she noticed the absent item. “Oh?” She says but instead of being relieved like Stiles thought there’s a pang of anger on her face. “So you thinking taking off your wedding ring is going to make me want to go on a date with you? Well hate to break it to you, kid. That’s just really shitty. Does your wife know your doing this?”

Stiles should be upset when she says this to him, but he gets it if it was the other way around he would probably feel the same. Upset, hurt, used and he would be wondering what her husband thought about it. But Stiles didn’t have a wife, he had an ex wife who moved on and now it was his turn.

“We can call her and ask?” He suggests, a smug look on his features. “You know if she has time to pick up while she’s sleeping with her new boyfriend and signing our divorce papers.”

And her features drop, just like he thought they would. Her cheeks heat up and she’s nothing but embarrassed because she could tell he was being serious. There’s a slight pull in his words when he speaks, mostly when he says her new boyfriend, and she picks up on it instantly. He hoped she wouldn’t, that was the first person he told that Angela was dating again. Scott didn’t know, Liam didn’t know, Isaac certainly didn’t know, but this girl that he was trying to impress did.

“I – Seriously? But you look so young, you guys…couldn’t make it work?” Her voice is low and softness covers her originally hard features.

“I walked in on her screwing some guy in our bed. Even if I wanted to, which I did, I got the message loud and clear that she was done with the relationship, she was ready to move on.” He tries to find her green eyes as he spoke. “It’s my turn too.”

“I–…” She stops and she stares at him for a moment, unsure of what to say. “I would love to go out sometime, but only on one condition.” His eyebrow raises, waiting for her to continue. “It’s not a date. You’re in the middle of a divorce, we barely even know each other. It has to be two strangers just getting to know one another and that’s it.”

“Fine.” He doesn’t even take a moment to think over it because it only seems fair to him. His heart might still be healing and he might be doing the same thing that Angela once did to him. She stands up and drops a white piece of paper on the table and gives him a small smile.

“Here’s my number and address. Text me the plans.” She says before waving and walking off leaving Stiles sitting there with a smug look on his face as he picks up the small piece and toys with it.

-

With a speech like what Lydia gave most people would wait a few weeks to ask them out, but Stiles wasn’t just anyone and to be fair Lydia wasn’t just anyone either. He was someone he wanted to get to know. He lets the phone number sit on the coffee table for a few days, Scott continuously asking him who’s it was – even going so far as threatening to call it to see who would pick up, but his threats are empty.

It’s about five days after when Stiles reaches out to Lydia, finally making the move.

S: Knock knock

L: Who is this?

S: That’s not how it goes.

S: Knock knock

L: …Who’s there?

S: Ow! Yout hit me with a door again! What’s your problem?

L: Oh my gosh. You couldn’t think of a better joke?

S: You couldn’t think of something better to do besides hit me with doors?

L: …

L: IT WAS ONE TIME.

S: Yeah, yeah, yeah that’s what they all say.

S: Speaking of saying…

S: What do you say to going out this Friday?

L: Wow, that was smooth.

S: You think so? It just kind of came to me. You know being a genius and all. 

L: Anyway…

S: I’ll ignore the fact that you’re insulting me and redirect you to my initial question

L: Why do I hit you with doors? It just happens.

S: Lydia! You know what I meant.

L: Hahaha I know, just wanted to mess around. But, to actually answer your question, yes. 

S: Awesome, I’ll pick you up?

L: I can just meet you there!

S: See you Friday then!

L: Til then!

The conversation and Stiles put his phone down, a smile on his face as he does so. He absolutely wished to keep talking to her but he would be seeing her in a few days and her words haunted him – they’re just friends, so he wouldn’t push it more than he already did.

-

Friday seemed to feel like forever to come, he made use of his time though. He looked around for a job and found something that sounded pretty interesting, and sent in his resume now all he was hoping for was a call back. Scott took a day off to hang out with his friend and it seemed that everyday that passed the less he thought about Angela. Even when he gave Lydia that big speech about how it was his turn to move on his mind wandered to his ex wife and it was obvious, but understandable. 

But, the day had come and Stiles was freaking out. He knew it wasn’t a date, or at least they said it wasn’t one but still in the back of his mind it made him nervous. He hadn’t been on a one on one anything with a woman since high school. Angela never wanted to go out – and trust Stiles, he tried and tried. If they weren’t in a group date she didn’t want to do it. Did people even still go out on dates? He was freaking out.

“Scott” Stiles says as he has his phone to his ear, pacing back and forth in a panic. “I don’t think I can do this. I know it’s not really a date but like…we’re going to a nice restaurant, going to drink wine and talk about our lives, how is it not a date.”

“Calm down,” the boy says through the phone. “You’ll be fine. You have like three more hours.”

“Not helping Scott.”

“I know and I’m sorry dude, but if I get home before you leave we can talk. I have to get back to work though, I’ll talk to you later.” They say their quick goodbye’s and Stiles just sinks back down into the couch, sighing as he does so. Maybe he was overreacting, but he was nervous and he just wanted to impress the redhead as best as he could.

-

Seven o’clock came and before he knew it he was quickly walking down the street trying to get to the restaurant. While it wasn’t crazy fancy with ball gowns and such, Stiles still got moderately dressed up. His light wash blue button up shirt was tucked into a pair of dark pants, his sleeved rolled up to his elbows as he strolled down the street. The girl consumed his mind as he did so, he’s trying to imagine all the different ways that her smile lights up the room, or how, without even knowing her that well, he could get her to laugh because that sound – that sound was beautiful and if he could store it in his mind to listen to it for a later time he would without hesitation.

Walking up to the restaurant he stands there, hands in his pockets as he stood against the exposed brick of the building, waiting for the girl to show up. The more he waited the more he felt his heart sink into his chest, was she just going to not show up? Taking out his phone she’s already ten minutes late and he’s trying his best to not think about it. He even opens up their text messages to make sure he didn’t get the time wrong.

S: Hey, me again.

S: We forgot to set a time for Friday.

S: 7? Does that work?

L: 7 works perfectly

S: Awesome.

Was it the awesome? Did it sound to teenager? He was overanalyzing pretty much every single word in the text exchanges to make sure he wasn’t going crazy. He wasn’t, she just wasn’t showing up. Should he text her? Give her a call? Or just accept that he was stood up and go home? He’s pondering every option when he hears a quick pace of heels getting closer, causing him to pick up his head and see who it was.

Thank God.

“I’m so sorry!” Lydia says, slowing down her footsteps as she approaches him. She is obviously out of breath and disoriented when she walks up, not even giving it a second thought when she reaches up and wraps her arms around him giving him a quick hug. It shocks him at first, not even able to react quick enough to hug her back, but he does pick up the scent of vanilla and it makes him forget about any past worries he had. “You probably either hate me or think I’m the worst person ever but I called an Uber because I had to go a meeting for work and knew I wasn’t going to be able to walk here in time. But of course the driver was late and then he cancelled on me which I didn’t even know you could do and I –…”

“Lydia it’s fine,” he cuts her off, his eyes searching her face and he could tell she’s frazzled and needed to calm down. “It happens, you don’t have to make up a fake story as to why you were late, I get it.” Before she can protest he gives her a small wink, her mouth shutting instantly and letting a smile crawl on her features instead. “Come on, let’s go inside.” He makes his way over to the door and opens it up, holding it as he guides her inside, his hand on the small of her back as he does so.

As she steps into the lights of the restaurant he can see her figure better, the dark jeans she’s wearing accentuate her curves and the shirt she’s wearing well…Stiles knew nothing about fashion but it worked, she was obviously someone who cared about her appearance – which either way wouldn’t have bothered him, she could have worn sweatpants and a hot sauce stained t-shirt and he would have thought she looked beautiful.

The place they’re at is packed, but less of a bar atmosphere from where they had initially seen each other that first time so long ago (had that really been over a month?) and more of a place where the two would be able to talk without having that high maintenance atmosphere around them. They’re seated quickly and after getting the initial drink orders placed the two are already chit chatting away.

“So tell me a little bit about yourself. I really only know that your name isn’t really Stiles and you live in Sacramento – or at least I think you do.” He laughs and nods his head before taking a sip of his drinking and thinking about what to say.

“Well you also know I was married once, but thank you for not feeling obligated to bring that up. We can just mention it now and get it over with.” He says before shifting slightly in his seat, putting his menu on the table as he thinks of something else to say. “I’m currently unemployed, I just left my job because I was just…drastically unhappy, so that was the second break up I had this year.” It causes her to giggle and he’s not offended, he wants her to be able to laugh at things like this. “But I’m looking for something new, something that’s exciting or at least less mundane than my last job. Uh, I currently live with my best friend just a few blocks away from here, sadly I live on his couch so that’s something else I have to fix. I’m originally from a small town about 50 miles west from here and I grew up there with my dad.” He says and watches her face carefully. She’s so interested in what he has to say that it makes his heart leap slightly, she’s leaning closer to him trying to hear what he has to say and it’s obvious that she’s eager to learn more about him. “That’s …really about it.” He smiles, his hand moving to rub at the back of his neck nervously, hoping that she didn’t press him for more information since he really didn’t know what else to say.

“Interesting,” she sits back, her back on the chair now instead of leaning closely on the table, taking her wine glass in her hand as she looks over at him, swirling it slightly before taking a sip of it. “What kind of job are you looking for?” She asks, her mind focusing solely on that. “And what did you used to do that was so bad?”

“Some back office job answering customer service questions for the company and then taking the feedback and making data out of it. It was a snooze fest, honestly I had never been more un-happy.” Lie. “It was just not who I was, I looked around and no one liked the job but they were just so comfortable that they couldn’t even fathom doing something else with their lives. I could have never showed up and they would have never noticed.” He shrugs. “But tell me about yourself, enough about me.”

“I graduated Princeton in three years at the top of my class –…”

“Not to brag or anything right?” He cuts her off which makes her laugh, nodding her head.

“Exactly, not bragging. Uh, I originally wanted to be a doctor and get my PhD but my plans kind of changed when things went wrong at home and had to come back to California. I’m originally from – just like you said – a small town right outside of here, but decided to move to the east coast to fulfill some dreams. The west coast is nice but outside of Los Angeles there’s really no huge opportunities. New York is full of them and that was my goal at first but like I said life had other plans for me. Which is totally fine, but I ended up changing my major and here I am now. I work at a brokerage firm and sell bonds to hospitals, which is the easy way of explaining it.” She takes a sip of her drink before continuing. “I live about 10 minutes away from here in an apartment with my friend, and that’s about it.”

Holy. Shit. Not only was she beautiful but she was insanely smart and Stiles was wondering if she was even real at this point. Her words end but his eyes can’t seem to take themselves off of her.

“That’s…insane. You’re…holy shit.” Is all he can think of, which makes him mentally slap himself this girl graduated Princeton in three years at the top of her class and he can’t even think of a sentence to say to her. “Do you ever think of going back to New York? Assuming things have changed from what held you back that is. You know, getting away again?”

She laughs, he’s not too sure why, it was a fair question and he wanted to know the real reason as to why the girl didn’t go back.

“You know you’re the first person to ask me that?” Lydia says once she stops laughing, her green eyes moving from his face to white plate that sat in front of her. “I’ve always waited for a sign to see if it was right to go back, if someone would bring it up. My parent’s kind of just let me move back and didn’t really say much.” She scoffs and shrugs her shoulders. “Not much I can do now. I’ve established a life here, but if it was a year ago the story might have been a little bit different. You know?”

He nods his head, feeling sad for the girl who obviously had dreams and goals she wanted to accomplish back on the East Coast but whatever it was that caused her to come back was obviously still weighing her down, he didn’t want to press her on it. They had barely known each other after all, it might have been weird for her to just start spilling her secrets out when she made it clear she didn’t want to have anything to do with that just yet.

“I get it,” he says after a moment, fixing himself in his chair. He wants to say more but the waiter makes his way over and starts talking to the couple which causes their attention to deter from each other back to the person that was standing in front of them. It seems like he’s been talking for forever and Stiles grows impatient, his leg shaking under the table waiting for the other to stop talking. He’d much rather listen to Lydia talk, the sound of her voice makes his heart leap and she just does something to him that he’s not sure if she’s aware of it, but doesn’t want it to stop.

It takes what seems like an eternity for him to stop talking and the two order their food, handing him their menu’s before turning back to each other, soft smiles on their features. They’re quiet for a moment, forgetting about their conversation from a minute ago to start thinking of something else to say.

“Can I ask you something?” Stiles blurts out, not really sure in his own mind where he’s going with this conversation. “And be as honest as you can, it’d be very much appreciated actually.”

“Alright,” she says, leaning forward slightly trying to read his expression to see what he was going to say.

“Why exactly do you not want to classify this as a date? My past aside, why?” Lydia’s green eyes move from him to her hands and then back to him. He can tell that the wheels in her head are turning as she’s trying to think of something to say. He’s not sure if she’s taking this long to try and not hurt his feelings with the real answer, or if she’s really not too sure.

“So why do I want to not classify this very obvious date as a date?” She teases, her shoulders shrugging slightly. “I don’t know if I’m trying to spare my feelings from someone I don’t really know or making sure that you don’t jump into something so quickly after getting a divorce just for the sheer sake of making your ex jealous.”

He nods his head at her answer, he knew that the last part was the answer he was going to get, but the first part surprises him. But, Stiles doesn’t comment on it, especially because Lydia is quick to change the subject and started talking about something else.

It seemed like they talked more than anything else by the time the night was done, the food was good and the drinks were flowing but they somehow managed to learn so much about the other in just the mere two hours that they were with each other. The door of the restaurant swung open and out walked the two, Stiles’ hand guiding the small of her back through the door as they were laughing at something stupid that he had said. If anyone saw the two earlier and now they would know that they walked in strangers and walked out something so much differently.

“Thank you for such a great night,” Lydia says as she calms down from laughing so hard, turning to look at him. “I had a lot of fun.” Stiles lets out a content sigh as he finishes laughing, her words making his heart speed up rapidly. He wants to pull her in and kiss her but he knows that the night was not meant for that; he knows that she wants to be just friends and pushes the idea to the back of his mind, letting a smile take over his features instead of thinking about it.

Lydia manages to stand on her tippy-toes and wrap her arms around him, she doesn’t pull away quickly like the last time and Stiles is quick to drape his arms around her waist, holding her tightly. He can feel her heart beat, and he hopes that she doesn’t feel his because it’s beating faster than a normal human’s probably should – but then again, Stiles isn’t really that normal. The smell of vanilla hits his nose again and it takes all of his might to not bury his face in her hair. Her curves against his hand makes him want to explore more and feel everything about her, but she pulls away by that moment. He feels empty, her body heat was so relaxing and he realized he needed her now that he couldn’t have her.

They’re quick to say goodbye but Stiles can’t get her out of his head, the walk home went by faster than ever as his mind could only think about Lydia. He ignores Scott when he walks into the apartment, his mind somewhere else as he lays down on the couch, his brown eyes staring up at the ceiling. Somehow with one night this girl managed to change his life, and neither of them knew it yet.

-

Days past, and she’s still all he can think about. They text every now and again but nothing more than that since Stiles not only starts a brand new job, but he also doesn’t want to annoy her by messaging her every single moment.

They see each other a few times, sometimes coincidentally other times on purpose, but it’s a long month between the two for the two of them. Stiles’ divorce goes through and he’s officially a single man, he and Scott find a two-bedroom apartment and Stiles can actually pay his rent now with his job. He makes up with his dad and even sees his, now, ex-wife on the streets and can pass her without having the overwhelming feeling of wanting to get her back.

The first time it happens it felt like a fluke, maybe he was just having an off day. But then it kept happening, and the less he wanted to stop and talk to Angela the more he would see Lydia and want to be with her.

It’s a lonely Saturday night for the boy the second weekend in their apartment. Scott had a date with a woman he had reconnected with from high school – Allison, if he remembered correctly but he didn’t really ever remember Scott dating anyone back then, maybe because he was too concerned with Angela that he couldn’t even notice his friends around him. The friends that were there for him when he needed them, but not the other way around, they still managed to be there for him and it meant a lot. But, Scott was on a date, Isaac and Liam had decided to go annoy Derek and Stiles just wasn’t in the mood for it. So, he ordered some food and sat in his bed playing some video games. What else was he supposed to do? But just like that his phone’s screen lit up and he paused his game, looking over to see who was calling.

Lydia Martin

His brown eyes widened and he rushes to hit the button, not wanting to keep the girl waiting another second.

“Hello?” His voice is scratchy and he lets out a cough before speaking again. “Uh, hello?”

“Stiles?” Lydia asks on the other end of the phone which causes him to sit up in bed, ready to listen to whatever the girl had wanted to say to him.

“Yeah, it’s me. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah…yeah, everything’s fine. I was just…in the neighborhood and was wondering if I could come over?”

He had already jumped out of bed and was fixing up his room before the girl even asked, he was hoping that was the question she planned on asking the whole time.

“Oh! Sure, yeah I’m just hanging out in my new apartment. Scott went out you can head on over here. I’ll send you the address and the apartment number.” He says as he stops what he’s doing, his fingers moving through his hair as he nervously waits for her response. With a quick ‘sure’ from the girl, he hangs up the phone, texts her the information and quickly goes to work on making his apartment look somewhat decent.

The knock at the door stops him and he finds himself look in the mirror to make sure he didn’t look like he had been eating junk food all day and playing video games – which was exactly what he was doing, but he didn’t want her to know that. The door opens up and she’s standing on the other side, there’s a small smile on her features but she seems less happy than usual which frightens him because that was something he never wanted to witness.

“Hey,” he says softly as he steps aside. “Come on in. Thanks for coming.” Her small frame steps inside the apartment and her green eyes bounce around from the walls to the furniture, inspecting every single aspect of it, like she was memorizing it or as if it was the last time she was going to see this.

“Thanks for having me.” Her voice is low and she doesn’t look up at him, just continues to blankly stare ahead.

“Do you want to sit down or…”

“No, I’m actually not planning on staying long.” Her voice cuts him off and he wants to frown at the response he gets, that was not what he was planning on happening.

“Oh?” He responds before taking a step in front of her, trying to see what her facial expression was, being behind her Stiles couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not but by the look on her face she was.

“I don’t think we should do this anymore, Stiles.” Her words are simple but it almost knocks the wind out of him. “It was fine being friends and we still are but…” Lydia’s eyes move to his face and the moment she reads his facial expression she looks away again. “I don’t want this to turn into something more. You just got out of a relationship and I don’t want to be the rebound. Not again.”

What can he say? To him, she’s not a rebound but a breath of fresh air, she’s the girl that his whole life had been leading up to, he cared about him and didn’t mind listening him go on and on about absolutely nothing. Just last week she had called him crying on the phone because she was laughing so hard about a commercial that reminded her of Stiles and wouldn’t get off the phone because she tried to explain it to him. She obviously found little things in life that reminded her of him and Stiles felt everything around him reminded him of Lydia. So what was there to do?

Nothing. This was how she felt, he could have told her a million times that it wasn’t the case and that he had once been in the situation that she obviously had been in too, that he would never – could never do that to her.

“I don’t want to do it.” Lydia says as she looks back at him. “I don’t want to cut you off from my life, Stiles, and I want to give you the benefit of the doubt but you were married you gave a vow to someone to dedicate your life to them and you just...stop it.”

“Hey.” Stiles voice is stern and he shakes his head. “That’s not fair you can’t use my marriage against me, especially since it’s over.”

“That’s the thing, Stiles, you didn’t end it. If your wife never cheated on you, as shitty as it might be, would you ever have divorced her?” They grow silent and their eyes try to search the others, but Lydia already knew the answer to the question. “Exactly.” She whispers.

“That’s not fair.” Stiles says taking a step back from the girl, his hand running through his hair. “You can’t base this off of ‘what if’s’, Lydia. Okay, what if you never came back to California and what if I never got divorced? Yeah we would have never met but how is that the only thing you can think of?” Her eyes fall off of him and he takes a step closer to her, his hand moved to cup at her cheek.

He used to be afraid to touch her, that she would fall apart or turn away the moment he did, but he held her porcelain skin in his hand. She was so beautiful and Stiles couldn’t even begin to think of words to describe her, and even if he could she knocked the breath out of him that he wouldn’t even be able to get them out.

“Stop thinking of what could have happened, Lydia. I could have been an astronaut or a firefighter, but I’m not. I could still be with Angela but I’m not and that’s okay. It’s okay because right after my heart was broken into a million pieces a girl literally came into my life and somehow managed to start fixing those pieces back together. Not even from going on a date with me, just from talking with me and showing me what it’s like to be happy again.” His voice is soft and his hand moves to brush a piece of strand of her hair behind her ear. A rose petal blush settles on her cheeks and her eyes don’t dare to take themselves off of him. “That’s all I ever really wanted in life was to be happy, I thought I found it at first, and then you walked into my life.”

They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity and she can’t help but read his features. She told herself she wouldn’t let this guy, this stranger work her way into her heart, it happened once and it was the reason she was so miserable back in California, but Stiles was different – she found herself constantly thinking about him, even after the brief eye contact that they made at the bar that night.

His hand moves from behind her ear to under her cheek, cupping her face slightly as they stood there. He wants to lean in and kiss her, and she wants the same, but he hesitates still.

“So, do you still want to leave?” He asks, and her head is quick to shake ‘no’, Lydia never really wanted to leave, she just wanted to protect her heart without knowing that she was really fixing Stiles’.

A moment passes before she’s leaning up on her toes, closing the gap between them, their lips pressed up against each others. He’s not surprised like the other actions that have happened between the two of them, he’s been preparing for this moment from the moment they met and it’s more glorious than he can even imagine. His hands fall from her face down to her waist and he’s pulling her as close as he can, her arms wrap around his neck and before either of them know it they’re backing up into his bedroom. While the moment is meaningful, it’s not as hot and heavy as it should be, and Stiles doesn’t mind that. His lips part with hers to give her a small smile as his forehead moves to rest on hers.

“Stay with me,” he whispers and all she can do is nod her head, the boy’s lips moving to kiss the top of it before guiding her over to his bed. Sliding under the covers he lets her cuddle up next to him, his arms wrapped tightly around him. The two talk for what feels like hours and hours, nothing standing in their way anymore as they agree that it’s time for them to find their happiness. Lydia eventually falls asleep and Stiles gives her one last kiss on the forehead before he closes his eyes himself, and for the first time in what feels like forever Stiles Stilinski realizes that he’s actually happy and it’s all because of the redhead next to him. And he’ll thank whatever higher power is out there every moment he’s with her because of it. Lydia Martin was his answer all along.


End file.
